Huge search for former Minot teacher

January 9, 2012

Police in Sidney, Mont., are searching for Sherry Arnold, a Sidney High School math teacher and former math teacher at Bishop Ryan High School. Arnold was reported missing Saturday morning by her husband, Gary Arnold, after she went out for a jog at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday and failed to return home.

Major Bob Burnison of the Sidney Police Department said Sunday that a massive search of the area was organized involving hundreds of volunteers, various law enforcement agencies including McKenzie County law enforcement personnel, and airplanes but there is no sign of Arnold.

At about 3 p.m. Saturday, the search turned up a shoe in northeast Sidney that her family identified as belonging to Arnold, said Burnison. The shoe was found in an area that is locally called the "truck route." Burnison said the police found no tire tracks or shoe prints in that area, though there is no snow near that site so tracks wouldn't have been left easily. There was no blood found in the area near the shoe. Burnison said right now it is an active search, and they are not ruling out any possible scenarios.

Article Photos

Sherry Arnold

Arnold is 43 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a slender build, and has dark hair and brown eyes, according to reports. She was last seen wearing red leggings and a blue hooded sweatshirt.

Arnold was a math teacher at Ryan in the early 1990s, said Pat McNally, who was the administrator there at the time. McNally said she was a "very good math teacher" and is a "wonderful person." Burnison said she is a longtime Sidney resident and has family in the area. Arnold's husband Gary is an administrator in the Sidney school system, said Burnison.

The search is continuing. Anyone with information about Arnold's disappearance should call the Sidney Police Department at 406-443-2210.